Calling to Our Ancestors 2nd Edition

Hey folks. I am putting together the 2nd Edition of Calling to Our Ancestors. I have the outline written. I am looking for contributors. Do you have Ancestor workers’ voices you think should be included? Poems, prayers, songs, essays, artwork, rituals, etc that you are allowed to share?

Prayers, poems, and rituals can be as long or short as you feel called to write them. Artwork should be at least 300 dpi preferably in lossless formats so it prints well on publication. Essays should be at minimum 700 words. All contributors retain rights to their work. If you are interested in contributing please contact me at sarenth@gmail.com. I will need a legal name and address to send a release form to you, as well as what name you would like the work published under.

I am looking to pull together as many resources for folks as I can. Do you have videos, eg on YouTube or documentaries you would recommend covering Ancestors, Ancestor work, rituals, etc? Podcasts? Books? Audiobooks and written? Blogs? Folks that are trusted Ancestor workers?

My aim with this 2nd Edition is to address what folks were most often telling me they wanted from the 1st Edition: more information on actually venerating and working with the Ancestors.

I have finally begun to put my fingers to the keys again to get the initial outline copied over from my Tūl notebook to my Google Docs.

This is what the outline currently looks like. I am having an issue getting it to look exactly like my outline in Google Docs, since I organize I, A, i, then a, and WordPress is being frustrating with formatting.

1. Introduction
   1. Dedication
   2. Foreword
   3. Notes on the Second Edition
2. The Ancestors
   1. Who They Are
   2. Worship and Veneration
   3. A Basic Polytheist Ancestor Altar and/or Shrine
   4. Offerings
   5. Acts of Service
   6. Sacrifice
   7. Expanding Ancestors
      1. Marriage
      2. Employment
      3. Profession/Craft
      4. Adoption
      5. Initiation/Acceptance into a Lineage
      6. Death
   8. Reducing Ancestors
      1. Divorce
      2. Retirement/Firing
      3. Putting a craft/job down
      4. Cutting out/leaving family/relatives
      5. Removal/Leaving/Exile, eg excommunication in Christianity, ADF stripping Bonewitz’ ancestry
      6. Not worshiping/venerating abusive dead people
   9. Ancestor Veneration vs Worship vs Work
      1. Definitions
      2. Differences between them
      3. Similarities
   10. Talking With The Ancestors
       1. Divination
       2. Dreams
       3. Clairaudience, clairsentience, etc.
       4. Speaking out loud at the altar/shrine
       5. Rituals
   11. Rituals for Connection
       1. Regular devotionals
       2. Sample devotional rites
       3. Simple
          1. Drinking a cup of coffee/tea/water with the Ancestors after a simple cleansing
       4. Complex
          1. At least once a week making prayers and leaving an offering on the shrine and cleaning it within a prescribed time.
       5. Prayer beads
          Special events, eg marriage, coming of age, etc
       6. Funerary Rites
       7. Rituals for Healing
       8. Rituals for Reconciliation
          1. With living descendents present, eg the victims of a dead abuser coming together and holding him to account with the Ancestors
          2. Bringing healing to Ancestors through a healing ritual bringing the powerful Ancestors together with one’s Gods of healing and family lines.
       9. Rituals for Reckoning
          1. Abusive dead in the line
          2. Wrongs done by one’s Ancestors to another’s
          3. Independent cutting of cords so a harmful Ancestor is outside of your cultus until and unless they do right.
   12. Open Doors -Ancestor Workers
       1. What They Are
       2. What They Do
       3. Basic Skills
       4. Being Called
       5. Doing the Work
3. Essays
4. Rituals
5. Prayers
6. Resources
   1. Ancestor Books (print, digital, and audiobook)
   2. YouTube, podcasts, and other media on Ancestors and Ancestor work
   3. People willing to be contacted for Ancestor Work

Patreon Topic 46: On Housevaettir

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From Alexis comes this topic:

“Have you talked about house vættir?”

Not in so many words until your topic on this post and Q&A request here.

Are the housevaettir landvaettir? Yes, and They are separate. From the Q&A:

There are a few reasons I make a distinction.

First, the house is an entity unto itself marked by the boundaries of its walls and outer doors.

Second, our modern houses are generally distinct from the land they sit on or in. Very few homes anymore are made with materials directly sourced on site.

Third, the means of relating to home vs land are different in how we treat and understand ourselves in those spaces. 

Our relationships with our home are fundamentally different to ‘the outside’. Even where there is bleedover between the two boundaries of húsvaettir and landvaettir I find there is usually some distinction in relationship with us.

March 2021 Q&A 2

Are the beings that live on/with the land landvaettir? They can be. That answer also implies we are also vaettir ourselves. It is true though, we are vaettir. We are not becoming vaettir and we do not become vaettir when we die; we are vaettir whatever the condition of our líki (body) or other soul parts.

So the distinction here is that we ourselves are not landvaettir until we join with the land. Likewise with húsvaettir. We are close, sometimes even indistinct if you are taking a bird’s eye view, yet we are still distinct from each other. I am no more a rock than I am separate from the land.

Húsvaettir are more intimate with us and vice versa than a lot of vaettir. After all, we live in and with Them. We see Them sometimes more than our own extended families, so having a good relationship with Them is all to our mutual good.

Each vaettr within the home is a vaettr unto itself, and yet, like with our own bodies and the billions of cells that make us up, as we constitute a whole so does the collective húsvaettir. If we look at the home itself as a composite Being, we can clearly see the idea of the soul matrix applies to it.

The materials that make up the house is the líki (body), the air that circulates through the home is its önd (breath), the heat and cool the lá (heat), the litr (color/blooming hue/goodly hue) would be how the interior and exterior are lit and the emotions the painting of the alls and decorations bring. How are its hugr (mind/memories/spirit) formed? The decorations are part of that too, especially photographs, the layout of special places including the hearth or what serves for it, the places shrines are placed, and the bedrooms. The munr (mood/mind/logic) is the flow of the home’s layout and the layout itself, and I also see it in the way that the guts of the house are arranged for flow of information such as the cable and ethernet lines. The hamr is the second skin, the spiritual form of the house. Perhaps it appears warm and inviting to us who live in it, but it could just as easily look foreboding to unwelcome spirits.

What might its fylgja and kinfylgja be? Those vaettir that it descends from, the constituent Beings of wood, metal, and the Dead that are Ancestors of the large amount of oil-derived products (if it is a modern Western home), or whatever is used to build the home. Its hamingja (group luck) is made with those who live with/within It and whom It helps to keep well. If the home’s occupants actively seek to make oaths with It before occupation then keeping Its part of them increases Its own hamingja. Its megin is felt in how it welcomes those who live with/in It in, and how it stands up to storms and other occurences in Its life. Its ørlög is laid down when it is made, and its Urðr unfolds from here as it ages.

Here’s a fun thought to think on: if we understand that the house itself is distinct and separate from us, possessing its own soul matrix whether occupied or not, then what are we when we live inside a house?

In a sense we are distinct from the house in that we can pack up, leave, and never come back at any point in time. The húsvaettir cannot do that. We die, and the house still stands. Perhaps someone else will come along to call it home. Yet, without a home we as humans are understood as missing something vital. So, in this sense a house is a distinct entity from us, and so too are the húsvaettir and landvaettir.

Mind you, I am not saying we need to have a rooted-to-the-ground home to have a home or that this understanding of húsvaettir is exclusive to American stick built homes. There are plenty of examples of homes that can be carried on your back or that of an animal or vehicle, whether a tent, a yurt, a tiny home on a trailer, a camper, or RV. What matters it that this is a place we call and relate to as a home, as our home. As with a lot of things in Heathenry, it comes down to the relationships we are engaged in.

My relationships with the húsvaettir are expressed in similar ways to those of other vaettir. We have a space for the húsvaettir on a vé that They share with our Ancestors, the févaettir (moneyvaettir aka money spirits), and Andvari. They get offers the same as other vaettir, usually water, but also on herbs and food on occasion. As with other vaettir, engaging respectfully, and with respectful lines of communication is the best way to developing a good relationship with the húsvaettir.

Patreon Topic 27: Heathen Dream-work

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From my third Raiðo supporter comes this topic:

“Any recommendations on how to incorporate dream-work into one’s Heathen way of life?”

It depends on the dreamwork we are talking about. I will not be digging into dreamwork as approached by Freud, Jung, or others as talked about on the Wikipedia page. Rather, I will be approaching as a kind of spiritwork and how we might approach it. Before we dig into this, dreamwork is not one of my specialties, it is not something I have engaged in recently, and everyone may experience dreamwork in different ways.

As with a lot of spiritwork I recommend caution before applying something to your life. A while back a dear Brother of mine, Jim Stovall, coined the phrase Spiritual Accounting. Jim’s formula is (M+C³)xR=V. M is message, C is Confirmation, R is results, and V is verified. He actually has a spreadsheet with Gods, Ancestors, and spirits he puts through this evaluation and it has borne good results for him. You can actually buy a shirt here and here that displays it and supports our podcast, Around the Grandfather Fire. In previous writing I have likened it to a three-legged stool, where we have lore (written and archaeological records), experiences (our own and others’), and divination.

So what is dreamwork? I understand and approach dreamwork in two ways: as getting messages from the Gods, Ancestors, and/or vaettir in dreams, or accomplishing tasks/goals. With regard to getting messages, sometimes they can be quite vague and may require some deep work to understand, or even a follow-up with other divination. Sometimes this comes in the form of lucid dreams and other times it is under direction by a God, Ancestor, vaettr, or group of Them.

Most of my dreams are random psychological phenomena or entertaining. The ones that definitely involve the Gods, Ancestors, and/or vaettir happen every so often and not with any pattern I can discern. I have not been pushed to encourage them, and to be honest, I will not since so much of my free time is taken up with spirit work.

What can I offer to those who are interested or are being pushed to engage in dreamwork? Questions and advice, mostly.

Why engage in dreamwork? Is it part of your toolbox, or a part of your toobox that you want to expand? Are you being required to work with this technique by a God, Goddess, Ancestor, vaettr, or group of Them? If you have a choice in engaging with this tool, is there a better one you could learn to work with where you have more direct control, or one that might be better suited to the aims you want to accomplish with this technique?

What tools do you already have at your disposal that will allow you dreamwork to be effective and remembered well by you? Do you have a journal to record the work, the experience, and the results? Do you have alarms set so you do not just float away and ignore your body’s needs too long? Do you need all but essential electronics turned off? Do you need isolation, silence, or darkness for a few hours, day(s), and do you have the means to get that? All of these are useful tools for anyone considering dreamwork.

What tools do you need to bring in for dreamwork? If you have a hard time getting to sleep or coming out of sleep have you spoken with a doctor about it and if there are options you have not tried yet? Some folks find it easier to sleep hot and others cold. Some folks find added weight, such as with a weighted blanket, helps them to fall asleep and stay asleep longer. While I would avoid caffeinated drinks, especially before dreamwork, a specially made tea for the working can be a powerful preparation. So might satchet pillows, charms under, over, or around your sleeping area. Stuffed animals and blankets with designs of any helping spirits, fylgja, etc can be a good way to bring them in.

When you have determined why you are going to engage in dreamwork setting the stage is going to be pretty important. You are not merely going to sleep. You are lying down to sleep with a spiritual purpose. It is not altogether different than if you were preparing for útiseta (sitting out, such as at a grave, mound, or riverside), hamfara (literally skin/shape travel/fare, to fare forth in your hamr or second skin/self), or other spiritwork. In fact, what your dreamwork may have you do would be hamfara, so preparing for that can save you from being spiritually hurt or lost. So, putting together protection, including shields, wards, and anchor-points for your soul parts well ahead of time would be at the top of my list. Well before any kind of spiritwork I would have at least a weekly preparation, and at least in the three weeks leading up to the working an every day preparation of cleansing, grounding, centering, and shielding. The day of the dreamwork, before lying down to sleep, do another round of that preparation, and double check your wards, anchors, and any other tools you are bringing into the dreamwork.

The reason I brought up the journal so early in this post is because it could well be one of, if not the most important tool for this work. Done well, a journal for spiritwork functions as a kind of work log, grimoire, record, diary, and personal journal all in one. Done poorly it becomes a literal paperweight and something you have to work to push through to write in. So, do whatever you need to so your journal is organized, moddable to your needs, and functions well. Take those steps now so you are not scrambling should you need to reference a working or try to remember something. This journal will also help you track your progress and long-term trends in your dreamwork. The journal can be digital, print, or both. Whatever your choice it needs to be accessible upon waking up. You can lose infromation in

Patreon Topic 20: On Worshiping vs Working With

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From Maleck Odinsson comes this topic:

“Working with vs worship. Where is the line, is there a line, how does this dichotomy play into a layperson’s spirituality vs a spiritual specialist’s practice from your perspective?”

I am going to start with the basic definitions of the words and work out from there. I also want folks to bear in mind that the answers I am going to give come from my perspective as a Heathen. In my experiences with Wicca there is a lot more blending of worship and spiritwork vs that of Heathenry, especially for laypeople.

Work is “1 Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result…2 A task or tasks to be undertaken.”

Worship is “1 The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. 1.1 Religious rites or ceremonies, constituting a formal expression of reverence for a deity.”

The fairly bright line between these two is the purpose for which a spiritual activity is engaged in. Is the work with a God a religious rite or ceremony ‘constituting a formal expression of reverence for a deity’, or is it ‘effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result?” Where that line gets a lot less bright is in the shades of gray where a God may have us do work in service to Them. Even so, unless the worship of my God is the point of the activity at hand, then it is work of some kind of work I am undertaking for Them rather than worshiping Them. Work can, of course, be done as a devotional activity, “Of or used in religious worship”, such as dedicating the sweat of one’s exercise as an offering, or the money one earn’s going to a monthly donation to a water preservation effort in one’s State as an offering to the watervaettir.

Can working with the Gods, Ancestors, and/or vaettir involve worshiping Them? Certainly. Every time I engage in Runework I am making prayers of worship and thanks to Óðinn and the Runevaettir, my Dísir, Väter, Ergi, Þverr, other Ancestors, fylgja, kinfylgja, and other vaettir who may work with me during the Runework. I make offerings before and/or after the Runework. However, the overall focus of the Runework is in the name: it is to do work with the Runes. Likewise, spiritwork of all kinds (including Runework obviously) can involve worship even if the worship itself is not the sole focus.

So we could be very stark and say ‘this is work and this is worship and never the twain shall meet’ and just a cursory look at my own practice would not bear this out. I explored this a bit in my August 2020 Q&A 1 where Elfwort asked me about magic.

I think where the dichotomy comes into a layperson’s spirituality is if they choose to engage in spiritwork. My wife very rarely engages in spiritwork, and when she does, it is usually because Frigg or Brighid, has called her to do it. Most of her expression and experiences, religiously speaking, are those of worship. I would say that unless a layperson is regularly choosing to engage in spiritwork this is also their experience.

A spiritual specialist does tend to blend the two, especially in work they are called to do. My work as a spiritworker are areas where I tend to blend a lot of worship and work together. In order to do a Rune reading well I need to have had a developed relationship with Runatýr and the Runevaettir, have studied the Runes, and experience reading the Runes. Initiation into working with Runatýr and the Runevaettir was part of this for me. The set up for doing this work well is to have a good relationship with Runatýr and the Runevaettir, and so this requires to make prayers and offerings. Spiritwork and worship come together into a whole relationship.

Is it necessary for every spiritual relationship in spiritwork to combine worship and work? No. There are some spirits that I may have to work with, eg the spirits of disease, for whom I have no desire to have a worship relationship with. I just want them gone or handled. Here, the line is fairly bright since I have a goal in mind for working with (or working on, as the case may be) a spirit. A spiritual relationship can also be quite different depending on context. My work with Yggr has been “We have things to work on” rather than a worship relationship. Yggr is Óðinn, to be sure, but this heiti generally comes forward when something needs to be done or worked on.

If there is a hard, bright line between worship and spiritwork, I do not often see it. Often my spiritwork is interwoven with worship, and my relationship as solidified through my worship is the backbone of how and why I can do work with the Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir in the first place. I think this can be equally true for laypeople, since laypeople are not spiritual specialists but can have entire swathes of spiritwork available to them. Where it plays into one’s life is where we choose to go with it, and where we are called to by our Gods, Ancestors, and vaettir.